IN THE MERCURY NEWS: “HOUSING CRISIS: CALIFORNIA BILL AIMS TO HELP THE ‘MISSING MIDDLE’”
Often, when nonprofit developers make their affordable-housing pitches to local governments, city officials ask what can be done for middle-income workers, said Michael Lane, policy director for the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, which is co-sponsoring the bill.
As the state’s costliest housing markets and high rents threaten to force all but the highest-paid workers into ever-longer commutes, California lawmakers have introduced a bill to help more teachers, firefighters and other middle-income workers live close to their jobs.
The new legislation, Assembly Bill 3152, would give nonprofit housing developers property tax exemptions on homes in high-cost areas that are rented at a discount to those with moderate incomes. The tax breaks, currently available to developers of low-income housing, would make middle-income rental housing easier to build.
